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Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:11 am

Bond Motors in Old Saybrook is a dinner
Fairway Motors in Willimantic was a sewing shop and is now being remodeled for something.
Lee Butler in Norwich is a Chrysler dealer
VW of Groton was leveled and a 99 restaurant was built there

(in order of demise I believe)

Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:21 am

the one near me in Plainfield NJ(Union County motors? on Route 28) is i believe now a failed used car dealer. The one that was close to me growing up in Toms River NJ was Walshak & Dillon, which then became Coast and then ?? had burnt down to the ground due to arson and sat for many years is now being rebuilt slowly and i think is going to be Porsche, Audi and VW.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:40 pm

Kuncle wrote: I think it would be cool to go through all the closed buildings that used to sell cars and parts and just see if there is anything left. Im sure something is left behind like old signs or something that would be cool.

In those big old warehouse type buildings they would sometimes put old signage and other large objects up in the rafters. When they tore the old Lockheed buildings down in Burbank they found an entire wing panel from a WWII P-38 stuffed in the rafters that were later enclosed!

However, with memorabilia and "industrial decor" sales being what they are, if you're not there right at closing you probably will come up empty.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:28 pm

I’m not sure the complete VW line up history around here but I've seen old ads for "Wachusett Volkswagen" in Fitchburg, MA around here but that was probably from back in the 60's. I think it was on John Fitch Highway where a Kia dealership used to be in the 90's and now is abandoned. It looks real 60's/70's inside though and I could see them selling VW's. Then there was "Wagner Toyota/Volkswagen" for a few years with its own VW wing in Leominster. I think it's a hangout for pimping watercooled VW's now....legal...dunno!! The only VW dealership around here now is "Tulley Volkswagen" in Nashua, NH. I really want to get up there and take a picture in front of the big "VW" sigh out front!! 8)

Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:46 pm

I am looking for a Jimmy Nantista VW dealer logo, or license frame. I fiound one logo, but the guy wanted $40 for a little piece of plastic.
I have the Service writers desk that was used at Cars Inc, and then at Gary Lilly VW. It still has all the stickers from 40 years ago. I gave $2.00 for it at an auction.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:53 pm

For those not in the know here is some usefull facts on dealerships..

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/usa_dealers_al.php

Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:59 pm

obus wrote: For those not in the know here is some usefull facts on dealerships..

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/usa_dealers_al.php
Exactly what I was looking for. I looked quickly yesterday, but came up empty.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 3:17 pm

if you log into The Samba home page and look at the bottom off the page there is a tab that says "site map" There are all kinds of stuff to keep you busy for hours(ask my Wife about this!)

here is the link in case you don't see it
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/sitemap.php

Wed Jun 18, 2008 3:42 pm

Eberbach Motors building in Anderson Indiana is now Tom Wood Honda.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 3:52 pm

VWAdam wrote: Culito wrote: My '62 SC was originally unloaded in New Orleans, and sold at a VW dealership in Starkville, MS. I guess it's no longer there, I can't find any info on it.

The only clues I have are a painted - over dealership sticker on my decklid that has a faint VW symbol and Starkville, MS on it. Can't read the name...

Edit: after closer inspection (and some guesswork), it looks like Glass' VW in Greenville, MS...real hard to tell, though.

Hey, both of my Buses came through New Orleans as well. Most VWs sold in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and west Tennessee came through New Orleans since Int'l Auto Sales there was the distributor for those states.
And, my '64 was sold new at Glass Motors in Greenville, Mississippi. I have the original owner's ID card from that dealer and it doesn't have an exact address, just says Highway 82 East, Greenville, MS.

Oh, and I know you said it's hard to tell what the sticker says, but if there's anyway you could get a picture of it or a pencil rubbing or something, I'd love to see that.

Cool! I'll try to get a pic, but the dealer sticker was damaged, then buried under two layers of paint. Here's a teaser:

You can barely see some stuff going on just above the engine lid latch hole on the flat area...

Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:38 pm

I know most of you have seen it before but here it is again--In small town Ontario, Canada.
It's on the list of dealers.

I should get a new pic with leaves on the trees.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:43 pm

Kuncle wrote: I think it would be cool to go through all the closed buildings that used to sell cars and parts and just see if there is anything left. Im sure something is left behind like old signs or something that would be cool.

25+ years ago we were going through the attic of a VW Dealership in Chicago, and after we emptied a big shelf unit, you could see that there was a door behind it. The parts man didn't even know it was there.

We moved the shelf and got the door open, and there was a room about 15 X 20 that was completely full of NOS parts-- body panels, seats, box after box of parts all covered in a ton of dust. We got pretty excited until we started looking, and realized they were all Studebaker parts. When the Studebaker Dealership closed they had just shoved all the leftover parts in that room to make space for the VW stuff and forgot about it.

I'm sure some Studebaker fan would have gone nuts, but we were pissed it wasn't VW and just shut the door again.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:57 pm

In the last bay of my above picture of our old dealership there was a pit--for working on the underside of big trucks--in the clean up before selling the building, they filled it with old VW parts, including engines--and filled it with cement. Thats where those OG parts are :evil:

Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:26 pm

Truman Volkswagen El Cajon Calif, it's now a Suzuki dealer. Bought my first VW there (used) a 1955 oval. 8) 8)

Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:35 pm

Back in 1993, I went to work for Dixie Motor Company in Williamston NC as a service advisor/asst service manager/co-service manager (long story).

Anyway, I was driving a 1971 SB at the time and the parts manager and I got to talking one day. Seems that six months before they had thrown out a bunch of VW parts that were left over from the sixties and seventies. Engine parts, body parts, and glass. It turned out in the early sixties, the owner used to travel to New Jersey (or New York) and buy VW bugs off the dock to sell here in NC. Dixie had a dedicated mechanic and still had special tools until just before I arrived.

When Pecheles bought franchise rights to sell VW locally, the agreement included stopping Dixie from selling new VW's since Dixie had never officially bought the franchise rights.

Dixie then bought the franchise rights to the next new car line that would replace VW in the US...Simca.

After hearing the story, the parts manager and I scouted upstairs make sure there was nothing left. We found a VW curved windshield, a couple of Simca windshields, and the Simca dealer sign. I had the lighted Simca sign for a few years but eventually threw it out.

As a footnote, the VW mechanic that Dixie employed for over twenty years must have loved his job. When he passed away, his family had a VW Beetle engraved on his tombstone. He is buried in the Williamston cemetery.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:57 pm

The only VW dealership we had in our town when I was growing up was torn down. They changed owners a few years before they demolished the building and moved to a more desirable location. Now, the old site is a couple fast food joints.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:01 pm

Big Billy Barret VW is now Rusty wallace Vw in Dallas, the old location is right down the street from where I work.

Wed Nov 24, 2010 6:48 am

2002sportside wrote: I don't know what it was called, but there was a VW dealer on Cumberland Hill Road in Woonsocket, RI when my father was growing up. For much of my youth it was an ice cream parlor in the front, car service in the other half. Later it became a few failed small restaurant/diners. In the later years you could read the VOLKSWAGEN bleeding through the white paint. A few years ago they tore it down and built a Honey Dew and sandwich shop.

The shop you've been looking for is Cumberland Auto, Inc., 760 Cumberland Hill Road, Woonsocket, RI.

My 1963 De Luxe Sunroof Sedan was sold from that dealer. Info was taken from the window label and customer identification card for the car.

Wed Nov 24, 2010 6:57 am

obus wrote: the one near me in Plainfield NJ(Union County motors? on Route 28) is i believe now a failed used car dealer. The one that was close to me growing up in Toms River NJ was Walshak & Dillon, which then became Coast and then ?? had burnt down to the ground due to arson and sat for many years is now being rebuilt slowly and i think is going to be Porsche, Audi and VW.

*****edit-since i can't edit my earlier post, i will add that the old vw dealership in Toms River was going to be Porsche/VW/Audi but ran out of dough before being rebuilt and was sold to Nissan! :evil:

Wed Nov 24, 2010 7:20 am

obus wrote: obus wrote: the one near me in Plainfield NJ(Union County motors? on Route 28) is i believe now a failed used car dealer. The one that was close to me growing up in Toms River NJ was Walshak & Dillon, which then became Coast and then ?? had burnt down to the ground due to arson and sat for many years is now being rebuilt slowly and i think is going to be Porsche, Audi and VW.

*****edit-since i can't edit my earlier post, i will add that the old vw dealership in Toms River was going to be Porsche/VW/Audi but ran out of dough before being rebuilt and was sold to Nissan! :evil:

I have a Walshak and Dillon license plate frame :)

Handy Motors, New Brunswick NJ, would have been my local dealer.